reviews

​The Mavericks (from the album Hey! Merry Christmas available on Mono Mundo Music)The Mavericks work melody magic on Hey! Merry Christmas, their recently released album. The audio egg nog in The Mavericks machine makes music for any holiday wish list, blending Rockabilly, Americana, Country, Latin, and Rock’n’Roll for Hey! Merry Christmas, the songs crooned, shouted, and sung with the soulful vocals of frontman Raul Malo. The title track is a horn-blasted street party while Hey! Merry Christmas crosses its fingers for the perfect gift in “I Have Wanted You (For Christmas)” as it rings the bells and rattles the rhythms in “Christmas Time Is (Coming ‘Round Again)”. The Mavericks wrap up original tunes on Hey! Merry Christmas, opening up a pair of covers with Irving Berlin’s “Happy Holiday” as they channel Phil Spector through their rendition of Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”.

Seasonal sounds deck the holiday halls as Hey! Merry Christmas turns the key and lets the musical engine hum in the smooth come-on “Santa Wants to Take You for a Ride” while The Mavericks make a worldwide list of moods both good and bad with “Santa Does”, pen a personal wish in “One More Christmas”, and turn the tree lights blue on a solo reverie for “It’s Christmas Without You”